[bittermang]

A few months after seeking help for my mental illness, I had this moment of clarity. All the relationships that laid broken, all the opportunities that were missed. I could suddenly see and understand how my illness had contributed to these failures. How warped perceptions and erratic behavior just let to ruin.

There is this stigma around pills, in society, but also in my family. I would go to the hospital if I had bronchitis, but seeking help for mental issues was completely off the table. You get told to suck it up, stop whining, be a man, but all these actions really do is internalize and compound the illness.

If you're struggling with mental issues, and you're reading this, I just want you to know that it doesn't have to be that way. There is help. You can get help. It does not make you less of a person. It's just an illness, like any other. If you have a cold, you wouldn't think twice about grabbing a cough drop. This is the same. Seeking help isn't giving in or giving power to your illness, it's you taking power over it, and gaining control of your life back from it.